


The Long Haul

by Latter_alice



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: M/M, Tuckington - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-10
Updated: 2015-06-10
Packaged: 2018-04-03 20:37:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4114176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Latter_alice/pseuds/Latter_alice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All he's doing is running out of time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Long Haul

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not angsty- you are. I seriously considered that Wash might not make it out of this season alive, so I may have gotten a tad bit emotional and wrote a stream of consciousness fic. Maybe.  
> Please ignore my ramblings.

Tucker could clearly remember the feeling of having his body engulf and attach itself to Felix's knife the moment it pierced his skin- how it lit every pour of his skin on fire ,as he broke out into an instant sweat, and all thought of anything but the foreign object being twisted inside of him by the man he had trusted not even a few weeks beforehand vanished. Well, all thoughts except for one single plea, as he thought he was taking his last breath-

_Please don’t blame yourself, Wash._

He fainted before he had enough time to even start to verbalise that thought.

That was the first time Tucker should’ve known to say something before it’s too late, or maybe the first time should’ve been the panic of seeing him shot back at the crash site- or all those long nights that his mind chose to keep him up by going through countless different possibilities of what exactly happened after that cave collapsed.

Flashing forward not too much longer afterwards, a month or two at most, and he and Wash had been so utterly consumed in their respective duties to the people they somehow become obligated to help, that Tucker found it easier to pretend like that emotional tie hadn’t been made- why bother to act on some gut feeling when there was no way he’d ever get killed in combat? All good things come in time, they always used to say (even if he thought that was a load of shit, he’d let it slide in this particular instance).

But, as fate would have it, he was ambushed with Carolina and the others at the temple as soon as he was completely comfortable in his resolve to ignore himself. One line in particular the leader, a complete dick in black and red armour, of their little ambusher group had said resonated in the forefront of his mind- _I hope you said something meaningful the last time you saw them, cause you won’t be seeing them again._ And of _fucking_ course the only image he could see after he heard that was Wash’s stubborn face framed in his short blonde hair giving orders like a sergeant to some kids trying to fight a war they couldn't possibly be prepared for, and in an instant that same mouth about to berate him for something dumb had blood trickling out of it as he was laying in the middle of a battlefield,  and Tucker knew he just _won’t be there in time_ -

It didn’t happen that time, somehow. It must have been a god damn miracle their shield held up long enough for a plan of rescue and escape to come to light, and even more of one that Wash was okay too.

This is the part where Tucker would love to be able to say he bit the bullet before either of them got hit by one and pulled Wash to the side to kiss him like he should’ve after getting him back in arm's length healthy and _alive_ , but no, of course he didn't. Instead of marching over to him in the control room with the other CO’s, ripping his helmet off and shoving the other into a corner for a rushed confession and immediate comfort (from the- What? Dozenth near death experience they’d both had in the last however long?), he settled for just breathing out a long held breath as he saw the other man’s distinct yellow pattern on top of his not-quite-black armour. Wash was breathing, and he wasn’t bleeding profusely, so he could keep it cool and uncomplicated for just a bit longer- long enough to get his hands on Felix and end this god awful mess before things became irrevocably terrible.

Weeks passed with his mind set on waiting for the shit-storm to calm, and then they were so close- Tucker could feel it as the adrenaline had slowly started to replace itself with the high of victory, and he swore he could see the last of the storm pass them by as the enemies numbers continued to thin, but lady luck destroyed it all as one stray shot accompanied by a broken shout coming from Carolina's mouth killed it completely. One little piece of lead had found its way into one of the grooves of Washington’s armour, easily cutting through his worn out black undersuit.

If Tucker yelled, he surely didn’t hear it, and as Wash fell to the uneven, grass-less ground, Tucker could’ve swore some part of him fell too if he wouldn’t have instantly started sprinting over to the other man. He ripped off Wash’s helmet along with his own, and Tucker instantly saw he was too weak- something important had to have been hit.

With grey eyes that didn’t seem to want to stay open, Wash breathed out some half-order for Tucker to put his helmet back on and something about proper battlefield attire and protection. He just leaned down and kissed him instead of bothering with a response.

When he pulled back Wash just looked up at the other with a smile on the edge of his mouth, asking him why he didn’t do that at least a few hours sooner. Tucker choked on the huff of air in his throat a Wash did the same with his blood.

Tucker said that he thought he loved him, and was only waiting- but Wash cut him off, saying he was glad he got to know, and that he’d find someone else-

_“Please don’t go Wash. Please.”_

And this is without a doubt the part where Tucker would give anything to say that he wasn’t too late, or the bullet missed Wash’s artery, the internal bleeding wasn't as bad as it seemed, or anything than the truth.

_I hope you said something meaningful the last time you saw them._

 

 


End file.
